Tertullian, On Baptism 10

I have said what my limited gifts allowed about everything that constitutes the religion of Baptism; now I will move on, as best I can, to its remaining aspect — certain minor questions. The Baptism announced by John already raised a question posed by the Lord himself to the Pharisees: was that Baptism heavenly or earthly? They could not give a steady answer, since they did not understand, because they did not believe. We, for our part, can gauge it only to the measure of our faith and understanding: that Baptism was indeed divine, but by command, not by power. We read that John was sent by the Lord to perform this duty, yet his condition was human. He displayed nothing heavenly; he served heavenly things, having been put in charge of repentance — and repentance lies within human power. Finally, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, who refused to believe, also refused to repent. If repentance is human, then the Baptism tied to it must share that same condition; otherwise it would have bestowed both the Holy Spirit and the remission of sins, had it been heavenly. But it neither forgives sin nor grants the Spirit — only God does that. Even the Lord himself denied that the Spirit would descend unless he first ascended to the Father (John 3:31). What the Lord had not yet conferred, a servant certainly could not supply. This is confirmed in Acts: those who had received John's Baptism had not received the Holy Spirit — they had not even heard of him (Acts 19:1-6). Therefore, it was not heavenly, because it did not exhibit heavenly gifts. Even the heavenly element in John — the spirit of prophecy — failed after the full transfer of the Spirit to the Lord, to the point that John, who had predicted and identified the Coming One, later sent to ask whether he himself was the one who had been sent. Thus John's Baptism was administered for repentance, as a candidate awaiting the remission and sanctification in Christ that would follow. His preaching of a Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins pointed to a future remission. Repentance precedes; remission follows. That is what it means to prepare the way: the one who prepares does not himself perfect, but arranges for another to perfect. John himself confesses that what belongs to him is not heavenly, but Christ's, saying: "He who is from the earth speaks from the earth; he who comes from above is above all." He baptized only in repentance; the One coming soon would baptize in Spirit and fire. Clearly, true and stable faith in the water baptizes for salvation; simulated and weak faith is baptized in fire for judgment.